Rabbi, writer, speaker, information junkie, collector of antiquarian books and other random oddities, lucky husband, proud father & grandfather
2/ #1 Zedekiah’s Cave. Beneath the Old City of Jerusalem there’s a vast area known as Zedekiah’s Cave, aka King Solomon’s Quarries. Legend has it that this was the place where King Solomon mined stones for the First Temple. Who knows? For hundreds of years, it was unknown by locals, until it was randomly rediscovered in 1854 when a dog chased a rabbit into the opening! 🐶🐇 A third of the cave is still filled with debris and has not been excavated or explored. Jewish tradition says that King Zedekiah escaped from biblical Jerusalem through this cave. The thing is: current archeological research indicates that the quarry was not used before Roman times, which means it was neither used by King Solomon, nor by King Zedekiah. But… it’s still creepy, mysterious, and totally off the beaten path.
2/ #1 on our list is the Jewish pirate who masterminded history's greatest heist. Moses Cohen Henriques was no ordinary pirate—he was a Sephardic Jew with a thirst for revenge against those who had expelled his family and community. Born in Portugal, Henriques fled to the Netherlands to escape the Inquisition. But escaping with his life wasn’t enough - he struck back at his oppressors in the most audacious way imaginable. In 1628, Henriques raided the Spanish Silver Fleet on the high seas, taking 11 million guilders’ worth of silver—enough to fund the Dutch war against Spain for years. And he didn’t stop there. Henriques turned Jamaica into a pirate haven and continued to lead daring raids on Spanish ships and settlements. Unlike most pirates, Henriques wasn’t just in it for the loot—it was sweet revenge against Spain’s brutal persecution of the Jews. 🏴☠️✨